Phantom of the Sky
by frightfullytasteful
Summary: Kagome Higurashi was orphaned at a tender age and not many know that she is one of a kind. Taken in by Kikyo Tenjo, she meets an online persona - Sesshomaru. Throw in dimensions, portals, a jewel and lots of weird beings, two confused people fall in love.


Hey everybody!

Here's my first ever fic which has a proper outline and plot drawn up, and I'm quite excited for it actually. This baby is the fruit of ideas that have evolved over the past three years! I'm not sure as to how it would turn out, as the outline I've drawn out seems rather complicated, but I'm determined to get this up and running.

I wanted to wait till I've written about ten chapters or so before I start posting them up, so that I won't have to keep readers waiting, but I just couldn't keep my excitement in anymore! I don't know how the response would be like, but I sure hope it'd be positive. If, just if, anyone has noticed that two of my (really) old fics are gone, well I've deleted them. I wrote them three years ago when I was fourteen and decided they were too juvenile, and I can't really remember where I wanted them to go anyway. In fact, this fic almost encompasses all my ideas – in a new and improved form of course.

As for the title of the story, and if you find the name familiar... Yes, I did get my inspiration from the title of a song in DJ Max. Well if you're like me and actually spend time watching the MVs of the songs, you would realise that the MV for 'Phantom of Sky' (yes it is actually like that but I just made it grammatically correct) involved a little elfish girl and a human man (or at least I think he's human). I felt that it was rather similar to my story and hence the fitting title! And no, I do not mean similar as in Kagome being human and Sesshomaru being youkai. I mean similar as in people of two completely opposite worlds coming together and realising the other is their soulmate. ACK DID I JUST GIVE AWAY THE STORY? THAT KAGOME AND SESSHOMARU WOULD BE ENDING UP TOGETHER? OMG. :p

So I sure hope you guys would like it! There's not much info regarding the plot in this first chapter. I'm using the first few chapters to lay the foundation for the rest of the story. If any characters seem very out-of-character, well, they're meant to be like that. This story is also set in modern Japan, with modern technology.

More info will be provided in the author notes before the start of each chapter, so please do tune in! Oh and if this chapter seems awfully short, please forgive me. This chapter was originally going to be quite a long one – till I decided to split it into two instead. Sesshomaru will be introduced in the next chapter! *excited*

Let's see, what else is there to mention hmm… Oh and if any concepts/ideas/segments of this story seem to have some propaganda or motive somewhere, try not to think beyond the story. I'm writing it from my perspective; how I want it to be, so please don't see it as a way of me forcing my ideals onto anyone.

Ah and one last thing before I run off – I am still schooling and hence do not have a lot of time on my hands to write (to my utter despair). Also, since this plot (to me, for now) is relatively complicated, there are still many knots I need to work out. Well, all these mean that I won't be able to churn out updates weekly or bi-weekly or monthly even. I can only promise that I will update as soon as possible, and will not leave this fic hanging unless otherwise stated. You guys deserve to know and I will let all of you know if anything unexpected happens! In fact as it is, I'm already working on the storyline and chapters every free minute I have. Hence please be patient with me! I only want to give you guys the best because you deserve nothing less

Alright, I have nothing else to say! On with the story… and please review, thanksssssssssss! Lovelove.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha nor its characters.**

****\(^o^)/****

**...**

"Sango, Sango, kid with no father. Sango, Sango, kid with no mother. Sango, Sango, kid all alone. Sango, Sango, begging for a cone," taunted a blonde boy, circling a girl of no more than fifteen with two other lackeys. In his hands was a sizeable ice-cream cone, over which he slowly dragged his tongue, before making a slurping sound. "Oh, is poor little Sango… hungry?" He smiled while his lackeys snickered.

Fourteen-year old Sango pulled her legs closer to herself and wrapped her thin arms more tightly around them. She continued to stare daggers at the toes of her tormentor each time his feet passed in front of her. Anger coursed through her in tidal waves. She refused to give in to the relentless taunts of the blonde-haired boy circling her. So what if she didn't have a father or a mother? She had balls, those are what she had.

"Too hungry to say anything huh, _orphan_?" The boy continued with his taunts. "You don't even have a surname because you don't have an inkling of who fathered you and who gave birth to you. How pathetic," he spat.

Sango couldn't take it anymore. How could he blame her for not knowing who her parents were? She grew up all alone, suffered for an entire decade and more, and still, people were blaming her for her parents' deaths. Friends, relatives, even strangers seemed to glare at her with accusing eyes. Was it truly her fault they died? If she hadn't been born, would they still be living… and happy? Happy… before her existence? Happy… without her?

"You know what's pathetic? You, that's what. You talk about others not having parents, but guess whose parents and son are living under the roof of a family friend? You speak of Sango not having a surname, but guess whose surname is taboo today, after someone's father was thrown into jail two weeks back for the embezzling of company funds," a dark brunette walked up to the small party of four. "You strut around with your two sidekicks because you're afraid that others will call you names after your father's deed was exposed. And the only reason why these two are following you, is because they don't know that your father doesn't intend to return their parents the massive amounts of money he borrowed from them. Firstly, because he doesn't want to, and secondly, because he doesn't have the means to, as he's too busy taking care of his own ass to bother about earning any cash to support you," here she gestured to the blonde, "or to repay his debts." She ended off with a pointed look at the two abovementioned lackeys of the blonde.

The newcomer took a step closer to the bully. "So back off, loser. Don't even get me started on how that name fits you so perfectly." Her stormy blue eyes could freeze even the sun. The blonde's ice-cream had melted to form a tiny gooey puddle on the concrete floor, and he gritted his teeth before stalking off, dropping his cone into the puddle and signaling his lackeys to follow suit.

"What a dipshit," the dark-haired girl squatted beside Sango and sighed. "I'm not going to ask you if you're okay because that'll just hurt your pride, won't it?" Sango shrugged. The girl then stood and offered a hand to her. "Get up. I'm Kagome."

"Sango. And I can get up on my own." Sango pushed herself off the ground. "A drink?"

Kagome shrugged.

**\(^o^)/**

They sat in silence, occasionally sipping their root beer floats. Their school canteen didn't have any decent food to speak of, but it sure sold floats worth boasting about. Since Kagome seemed very much like her, and since she did rescue her from the residential school bully after all, as much as she resented having to admit it, Sango figured she kind of owed her one. So this time, she was the one who broke the silence.

"Hey." Sango only managed to force one word past her lips, as her fingers fidgeted with the straw. She wasn't used to socializing. She didn't have a need to, after all. She was a loner.

"Hey." Kagome was no better. Just because she came to Sango's rescue didn't mean she was adept at handling the people she rescued.

"Um… So…"

"Yeah…"

This was going nowhere.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking… Why do you have a marking on your forehead?" Sango asked, referring to the single navy vine-like spiral seemingly tattooed on, peeking out from just underneath Kagome's side-swept bangs. Anything to keep the silence at bay.

Kagome's hand reached up to feel her marking subconsciously. "Oh… I'm an inuyoukai. An ice inuyoukai, to be exact." She hated defiling the memory of her parents, or their heritage. Everything needed to be exactly the way they were when they left. Nothing more, nothing less. "I'm part of the ice clan." _'And part miko too,'_ she added silently. Oh well, nothing a stranger should know.

Sango's eyes narrowed at Kagome's words. "My parents were demon slayers. I'm the child of taijiyas."

"Huh." Kagome, true to her heritage, leveled an icy stare at Sango. "You gonna try and slay me?"

Sango stiffened at her challenge and met her gaze with a hard one of her own. "You want me to?"

The silence that followed seemed to stretch for an eternity.

"… Nah." Kagome decided. Just as…

"… Never mind." Sango withdrew her question.

This time, the silence that followed seemed to stretch for infinity. The awkwardness was almost tangible and both of their straws were very nearly about to crumple from all the folding and twisting they had to endure.

Finally, since Sango still felt indebted to Kagome, she broke the silence again.

"Um, your parents… they're rich?" She questioned, keeping her eyes trained on her rapidly disappearing root beer.

"I don't know," Kagome said softly. "They didn't live long enough for me to find out."

Sango sucked in a breath. No wonder she came to her rescue. She empathized.

"What were they like?" Kagome finally shot Sango a question of her own.

"Um… How would I know? They're your parents," Sango said slowly, in a tone belying her confusion.

Kagome resisted the strong urge to roll her eyes. "I meant your parents actually," she drawled.

Sango blushed slightly. "Oh… Right. They are my heroes, my parents," her eyes started to glaze over as she reminisced. "My father was the village chief and the leader of the demon slayers. My mother was the belle of the village. They got together in an arranged marriage but they loved each other when they died. Twelve years ago. Don't pity me though," she quickly warned, "I don't need pity."

"I wasn't gonna show you any pity actually," Kagome retorted. Adopting a gentler tone, she continued, "My parents disappeared when I was 5 demon years old. I never found out what happened to them, but they sure didn't come back. So I presumed they were dead." Though her tone was cold and unwavering, grief was evident in her turbulent blue orbs. Sango couldn't resist reaching over and giving Kagome a half-hug. Upon seeing Kagome's eyes widen significantly as her body went limp, Sango allowed a tiny smile to make its way onto her lips.

"I wasn't always this emotionally dysfunctional, you know."

Kagome tentatively smiled back. She hadn't smiled in ages and it felt funny quirking her lips up. She was sure she looked like she was grimacing. Nevertheless, she tried. "Me too. I remember laughing when I was a pup."

"I guess we're kinda friends now." The widening of her eyes gave away her own shock that Sango felt upon hearing those words leave her lips. She had merely thought about asking Kagome to be a hangout buddy and she most certainly did not expect herself to extend such a generous invitation to a complete stranger so quickly.

Similarly, that was the last thing Kagome had expected from the demon slayer sitting in front of her, and the first time someone had ever uttered such foreign words to her. "Y…yeah, I guess," the stuttering the only giveaway of her own surprise.

"So, how old are you really?"

"Um… Fourteen?"

"Try again."

"… Two hundred and ten."

**\(^o^)/**

_(A Year Later)_

"To all students of Sengoku High, this is an announcement regarding this afternoon's activities. There will be an official visit by the Chairman and the management committee of the nearby Goshinboku Shrine, and hence all co-curricular activities for today are cancelled. Lessons will end at 12pm sharp. Students are to be on their best behaviour at all times, and leave the school compound as quickly as possible upon dismissal. Thank you for your cooperation, dear students," the speakers crackled with static electricity before falling silent once more. Loud cheers resounded along the hallway with the exception of two rather loud groans in a certain corner of the school. A patch of grass, to be exact.

Kagome sighed and laid back on the disposable picnic mat spread on the grass. She put her shades back on and tilted her face away from the glaring sun. "What now?"

The strawberry blonde with her shrugged, despite knowing the fact that Kagome would probably miss it since they were lying down side by side. And then demand a verbal answer.

"I asked you a question Sango, now answer me!" Ah, she knew her impatient blue-eyed friend best.

"I shrugged, I don't know. We could always, not leave, you know," Sango stated matter-of-factly. She didn't feel like a conversation and was aiming to end it with the simplest of solutions.

"And then what? We can't hang around the school – wait, we're not even supposed to be in school in the first place! We're 'sick', remember? I don't want to end this picnic we've planned for a week just like that! And just look at all these strawberries too," sniffed Kagome.

"Let us continue our picnic then. This peace is oddly comforting, don't you think?" Sango finally pointed out the obvious. Nobody had yet to discover them – or at least, nobody of any importance anyway.

"You are absurdly annoying. I hope you know that," Kagome stretched luxuriously and dropped her arm unceremoniously onto Sango's belly. "Ugh, you need to lose some weight, you fat blob."

**\(^o^)/**

Kikyo Tenjo strode onto the grounds of Sengoku High School with a look of disdain on her face. It may seem as though she hated visiting the local high schools in the vicinity in order to ensure their national education syllabus was up to date, but it was all a façade. These trips were in fact 'scouting' missions of utmost importance to Kikyo and her organisation behind the Goshinboku Shrine. Normally when she made her rounds, she maintained an air of nonchalance in order to disguise her real objective, however this time, try as she may, she simply couldn't hide the extreme annoyance she felt with this school.

How was she to carry out her scouting mission when there was not a single soul to be scouted?

She ran a hand through her medium-brown hair lightly and frowned. Someone always had to thwart her plans. It was incredibly frustrating and painfully pissing off. Now, she really had to carry out a proper examination of the syllabus and she wasn't looking forward to it one bit. Out of the blue, she could feel the slight throbbing of a full-blown migraine coming on.

Kikyo rubbed her left temple with her left index finger and made her way to the school gardens, which housed a direct and sheltered pathway to the principal's office. Passing a discreet opening in a large clump of ixora bushes, she spotted a tiny pebbled path through the corner of her eye. _'Hmm?'_ She stopped and turned to peek through the medium-sized hole, large enough for a teenaged girl to crawl through but small enough for an adult not to take any notice. It was just too bad Kikyo was an observant young woman – perhaps a little too observant for a certain pair of illegal picnickers.

She saw a stray bandana strewn across a large rock placed by the side of the path a short way off, and a couple of empty beer cans scattered carelessly around that same rock. Deciding that she needed a can of ice-cold beer herself, she made up her mind and picked up her briefcase that she had left on the floor while poking her nose into the bushes. Silently appreciative of her slender stature, she managed to squeeze herself through without getting any leaves or flowers onto her baby pink Gucci suit, and quickly straightened her clothes. Without so much as a glance back, she quickly made her way down the pebbled pathway, blissfully unaware, but suspicious, of the party-for-two that she was about to crash.

**\(^o^)/**

Kagome jolted up. "Someone's coming." Sango quickly sat up as well and took notice of their surroundings. She knew that whoever that person was, they had at least five minutes' warning thanks to Kagome's acute sense of smell. She gathered the empty beer and green tea cans that were lying around on the grass and shoved them into a plastic bag which she promptly tied and threw aside. Putting the lids of any open food containers back on, she adjusted her spaghetti top and took her shades off. Looking around one last time, she released a short breath, satisfied with the impromptu clean-up. Kagome suddenly made a face at Sango. "She smells like my green tea too!"

Sango chuckled and shook her head. Kagome's love for tea was unrivalled.

The sound of high heels clicking on gravel was soon heard. The two girls looked towards the head of the only path that led towards their special grass patch and gradually, a head full of medium brown hair showed itself, followed by a slender body clothed in a rather figure-hugging pink suit. Black Manolo three-inch heels adorned the feet of this newcomer, which accounted for the clicking sounds. The lady had coal black eyes, and in her right hand was a black briefcase.

Kagome kept her eyes trained on this strange trespasser and sniffed subtly. Yes, she did smell like green tea… and despite all her efforts to keep the thought away, the scent was rather pleasant. However, underneath that feminine exterior and the sweet scent of jasmine tea, was a faint smell that tickled Kagome's nose. It smelled like lemongrass – citrusy and tangy. Something that made her blood tingle with anticipation, greatly heightening her awareness. She sneezed once, making the newcomer glance at her, and they made eye contact. Her blood pumped energetically through her body, spreading feeling from the ends of her hair to the tips of her toes. She had never felt so alive before.

Kagome jumped up to her feet, much to Sango's surprise at the sudden movement, and moved towards the lady. She bared her fangs at her and growled, "Who're you?"

The lady merely arched her eyebrow and moved towards Sango. Her lips opened to speak. "If you happen to have an extra can of beer, I hope you don't mind if I ask for it. I am in desperate need of an alcoholic beverage right now," she smiled. "Oh and by the way, I'm Kikyo Tenjo. Please do calm your friend down too; she appears to be greatly agitated." Kikyo gestured to Kagome absently. _'Interesting. I wonder what it is that she senses.'_

Sango was appalled at Kagome's behavior. She had never seen her best friend behave so inappropriately before, much less in front of a stranger! Come to think of it, she had never truly had the honour of witnessing Kagome's feral side, all she had ever seen thus far was a mere baring of fangs in a playful squabble. Although Kagome hadn't gone any further than that in her hostile actions towards Kikyo, Sango sure didn't want to provide her with the opportunity to. She quickly walked up to Kagome, flicked her ear lightly as she watched her mouth close while wincing in pain, and dragged her back to where Kikyo was standing, briefcase still in hand. Sango bent down to retrieve a can of cold beer from their icebox and held it out for Kikyo. "Um, that's all you need right?" She still wasn't all that comfortable around this odd person. Who just walks up to people they don't know and requests for a can of beer?

"Yes, thank you very much. By the way, what are your names? " Kikyo kept her smile plastered on her face. "So that I'll remember the two of you as the kind souls who blessed poor me with this precious can of beer."

Sango looked at her warily before replying a short "Sango and Kagome."

"I'll be sure to return this kind deed, Sango. Rest assured, I won't forget," Kikyo curtsied ever so slightly, before promptly turning on her heels and walking back down the same path she had emerged from. _'And I'll be returning it very soon, too.'_

Arching an eyebrow, Sango turned back to Kagome to see her features contorted into an extremely strange expression. "Whaddup girlie?"

Kagome's features straightened minutely before she spoke. "She did something to me! I don't know what, but something was calling out to me, something in her scent. It made my blood… sing, what the heck. Dude, my blood never sings! Actually, nobody's does!" She paused for a moment. "And she smells nice. Like my favourite jasmine green tea with a tinge of lemongrass." She grimaced.

Sango laughed out loud. "Really? What do I smell like then?"

Kagome looked thoughtful for a moment. Her blue eyes shone in the sunlight as she seemed to think of something. "Like burnt chocolate!" She looked so excited that for a moment Sango was worried she was telling the truth.

"No way! That's the way your feet smells after you finish our physical education lesson and you forget to wear socks!"

Their playful banter continued as they both forgot about that particular tinge of lemongrass in Kikyo's scent.

**\(^o^)/**

Her fingers deftly flipped through the paperwork scattered neatly in front of her. What an irony, but nothing was ever messy in her life. Her beautifully manicured nails underlined line after line of words before the page turned quickly. What would normally take another officer several hours to complete took her only one, and her heart was not even in her work. Enter Kikyo Tenjo.

A perfectionist by nature, it would seem like a mere figurative description if not for the aptness of the word itself. Only when describing Kikyo would the idea of her being a perfectionist seem like a massive understatement. Kikyo was perfection in every aspect nicely put together into one.

Perfect was Kikyo, and Kikyo was perfect.

And that was all the world saw. Nobody who knew her as an acquaintance or even a friend could ever realize that she was more than that. Nobody would ever be let close enough to catch anything more than a glimpse of her perfection. Except the Institute.

She lived for the Institute, otherwise known as the Singapore Historical Institute of the Knowledge of Other Natures (SHIKON). That was the only thing she had. The people there were the closest she had to a family since a long, long time ago. And her piano. Her music was her best friend.

Let the past remain what it should be – history.

She quickly slammed a barrier in place within her mind to partition her memories. She didn't want to remember anything more than she needed to. Finishing up with her routine check, she gathered all the papers and shuffled them into place before sending a quick text to the director of Sengoku High, informing him of the completion of her task. She put all her stationery into their positions in her briefcase and headed for the Principal's office. She had a favour to return.

Her long legs quickly covered length of the corridor and brought her to a frosted glass door. Knocking twice in quick succession, she waited until she heard the slight click of the automated lock before pushing the door open. She headed towards the large grey metal table situated right smack in the middle of the room, where a middle-aged man sat. Only giving him enough time to incline his head towards her in acknowledgement of her presence, she cut to the chase immediately. "I wish for two of your students, Sango and Kagome, to be withdrawn from Sengoku High and enrolled into the Institute as soon as possible."

A look of shock registered on the Principal's face. "Bu-but, they're just orphans!" He stuttered.

Kikyo's eyes narrowed in response. "And what, pray tell, do you mean by that?" She glared as a chill ran visibly up his spine.

"No…nothing much! I will see to their paperwork right away! Do you wish to wait or for me to fax them over to the Institute's office once they are done?" Anybody blessed with sight could tell he was hoping for Kikyo to choose the latter. So long as she got out of his office, and the quicker the better too.

Her mouth drew up in a tiny smirk. Why allow him the easy way out? "I will wait. And not for long."

Thirty minutes, a cup of coffee and a couple of timely and strategically planned glares thrown his way later, Kikyo was out of the Principal's office and getting into her silver Lexus. A whole load of research was waiting to be done.

Kagome Higurashi and Sango Ohisa… Her scouting mission for the day was complete.

**\(^o^)/**

Please review! And do be patient – I will give you the next update as soon as possible!

Lovelove!


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